OTTAWA – Sen. Patrick Brazeau claimed a home he didn’t own as his primary residence, didn’t stay there even when he visited, and may never have lived there over the last two years, the RCMP allege in court documents made public Thursday.

The RCMP say Brazeau claimed as his primary residence a home his father owns in Maniwaki, Que., far enough from Parliament Hill to qualify the senator for a $22,000-a-year housing allowance from the Senate.

“The investigation has shown that Brazeau does not live in Maniwaki, nor does he own a home there. Brazeau’s father resides in Maniwaki, but the senator, since being appointed to the Senate, has not,” wrote RCMP lead investigator Cpl. Greg Horton in the court document, filed in Ottawa.

The police allege Brazeau didn’t always stay at the house even when visiting his father, electing instead to stay at a hotel with his children so that his father was not disturbed. Two tenants at the home in Maniwaki, along with Brazeau’s ex-girlfriend, told investigators that the former Conservative senator didn’t live at the house, Horton wrote.

“Not only did he not live at the residence … they (Brazeau and his ex-girlfriend) would sometimes stay with their children in a hotel when visiting Brazeau’s father, so that he was not disturbed,” Horton writes. “As such, I believe that declaring that his father’s residence as a primary residence, while filing expense claims for a rental home where he actually resided, constitutes an offence of breach of trust.”

The allegations contained in the document have not been tested in court, nor have any charges been laid. A court order accompanying the document now compels the Senate to hand over credit card statements, Brazeau’s Senate calendar and his residence claims to investigators.

Brazeau’s spokeswoman, Debby Simms, declined to comment directly on the allegations, but said Brazeau’s office is fully co-operating with investigators.

The court document, filed Thursday, outlines the Mounties’ case against Brazeau. The RCMP have spoken with Brazeau’s two Senate office staffers;, his former girlfriend; two former neighbours in Gatineau, Que.; one of the tenants in his father’s home; Chief Gilbert Whiteduck of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, of which Brazeau is a member; and a man who works at a grocery store near the elder Brazeau’s home in Maniwaki.

The RCMP also question a key email that Brazeau has suggested legitimized his residency claims. That email, from Senate finance director Nicole Proulx, said that if Brazeau wanted to rent an apartment, he simply needed to submit an expense claim.

“I do not interpret Ms. Proulx’s response as authorization for Senator Brazeau to commence with claiming an NCR housing allowance, but rather direction on where Ms. Rochon (Brazeau’s executive assistant) can read the policy pertaining to such matters,” Horton wrote.

The RCMP document makes Brazeau the latest of three senators who the RCMP allege attempted to defraud taxpayers through inappropriate expense claims. Similar allegations have been levelled against senators Mac Harb and Mike Duffy. They have not been charged in relation to these investigations.

Investigators are specifically reviewing housing claims Brazeau made between March 1, 2011 and July 1, 2013. That’s a shorter time frame than the 10-year period under investigation for Sen. Mac Harb, and the four-year period for Sen. Duffy.

In May, a Senate committee decided that Brazeau should repay $48,744 for what it concluded were improper expense claims for a home in Gatineau. Brazeau had claimed his primary residence as the Maniwaki house. Senators are allowed to receive the $22,000 annual allowance for a secondary home in the capital if they live at least 100 kilometres from Parliament Hill.

According to the Mounties, Brazeau lived in the Gatineau home at the time of his Senate appointment in 2009, well within the 100-kilometre radius. He left that home around December 2010, the RCMP allege, when his marriage broke up.

Investigators asked to speak with Brazeau’s ex-wife, but she couldn’t provide police with a statement “due to an agreement she signed prohibiting her from speaking about Brazeau or their relationship until after the divorce is finalized,” a footnote in the document reads. The RCMP also asked to speak with her father, but he also declined to speak.

For the next few months, Brazeau spent time at his father’s home in Maniwaki, at his brother’s home in the Hull sector of Gatineau, at a hotel in Ottawa, and with his administrative assistant in Buckingham, Que., Horton wrote.

In March 2011, Brazeau signed a 27-month rental lease for a home in Gatineau, across the Ottawa River from the capital. Brazeau then filed a residency claim with the Senate claiming his primary residence was in Maniwaki and saying his Gatineau home was a secondary residence. Horton writes Brazeau might have done this “possibly in an effort to alleviate some of the financial burden as a result of his marriage breakup.”

His girlfriend at the time moved in with her three children in June 2011, according to the document. The woman told police that during the 20 months she lived with Brazeau, he “never lived in Maniwaki.” She told investigators that he went there on day trips and overnight visits with family, “but he does not have a residence there.”

Questions about the legitimacy of Brazeau’s claims were first raised late last year. In February, his housing claims were sent to outside auditors for review.

Independent auditors concluded that Brazeau met all four requirements a Senate committee had established to prove his residency: a driver’s licence, health card, voter’s card and income tax return showing his primary residence was in Maniwaki. But they also concluded Brazeau spent only about 10 per cent of his time in Maniwaki.

The Senate committee then determined Brazeau should reimburse the Senate for his expense claims, and ordered him to pay back about $49,000 for claims made between April 2011 and September 2012. Brazeau didn’t meet a deadline for repayment last month and will have part of his $135,200 salary clawed back for almost two years to repay the funds the Senate owes.

Brazeau has claimed he has done nothing wrong.

Unrelated to the RCMP investigation, the Senate put Brazeau on forced leave in February after police in Quebec charged him with assault and sexual assault over an alleged domestic dispute. He must wait until at least Oct. 9 to find out when he will go to trial on those charges.

Brazeau has said he will have his day in court, “and when that day comes, I will clear my name.”

Feb. 7, 2013: Brazeau is arrested and charged after a domestic dispute unrelated to the Senate spending affair. He is removed from the Conservative caucus and the Seante places him on a forced leave of absence.

Feb. 8: Expense claims for Brazeau, Sen. Mac Harb and Sen. Mike Duffy are sent to auditors for review.

Feb. 28: The Senate starts a review of its spending rules as all but Duffy, Brazeau and Harb are cleared of housing allowance questions.

May 21: Senators vote to order Brazeau to repay about $49,000 in expenses.

May 28: A letter is sent from the internal economy committee to Brazeau informing him he has 30 days to repay the improper housing claims.

June 28: A deadline for Brazeau to repay his living expenses passes without repayment. Brazeau’s office says he doesn’t intend to pay as that would be an admission of guilt and he feels he has done nothing wrong.

July 2: The Senate sends a letter to Brazeau informing him that the Senate will withhold 20 per cent of his annual $135,200 salary until it recoups the money he owes. The clawback of his salary will last about 21 months.

Aug. 1: An RCMP document laying out details of its investigation into Brazeau is made public.